Active modified atmosphere packaging of yellow bell pepper for retention of physico-chemical quality attributes

This investigation was carried out to evaluate the effect of active and passive modified atmosphere packaging on quality and shelf life of yellow bell pepper fruits. Yellow bell pepper fruits were packaged in 150 gauge LDPE packages with oxygen absorbers for active modification and without oxygen absorber for passive modification of headspace and were stored at different temperatures i.e. 5, 10 and 15 °C and RH of 85 ± 5%. Headspace gas concentration within the packages was monitored regularly. The quality of packaged fruits was studied in terms of physiological loss in weight, firmness, total colour difference antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content. The actively modified packages attained steady state levels of 4.8% O₂ and 7.1% CO₂ on 4th day of storage as compared to passively modified packages in which steady state was not attained even at end of storage period of 12 days. The retention of quality attributes was observed to be higher in active packages than in passive packages. Moreover, the shelf life of actively packaged fruits was enhanced to 28 days as compared to 12 days for passively packaged fruits. The in-pack atmosphere attained in active packages hence proved beneficial in retarding the senescence thereby extending the shelf life.